Pa. doctors offering free surgery to injured Iraq war vets

Two doctors from Pennsylvania want to help injured Iraq war soldiers return to their pre-war lives and careers.

The physicians from the Pocono Medical Center in East Stroudsburg have partnered with the non-profit organization Iraq Star to provide plastic and reconstructive surgeries at no charge to Iraq war veterans, including New Jerseyans, who have been scarred by shrapnel, burns or previous surgery.

"I think it's a good way to say thank you to our troops who are so brave to go to Iraq," one of the doctors, anesthesiologist Anthony Nostro, a native of Montville who previously worked at Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, said after a news conference today.

There is no in-state requirement, and the Pennsylvania doctors will provide transportation and accommodations to New Jersey soldiers and their families. The doctors say soldiers who are disfigured suffer two types of scars: physical and psychological.

The surgeries will be paid for in part by the Iraq Star Foundation, which began in California as a way to pay back soldiers who put their lives on the line. The organization estimates that more than 24,000 American soldiers have returned from Iraq with injuries ranging from mild scarring to severe disfigurement.

For more information, phone (760) 568-4039 or e-mail IraqStarInfo@aol.com.